A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD EMO BAND: GOOD TERMS
If you’re at all familiar with NBC’s hit television show “The Office” you’ll fondly recall character Andy Bernard (played by Ed Helms) and his heart touching line, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them”. The guys in Good Terms have felt the same way, with their latest hook, “I wish I realized this sooner”, a lyric that carries the song safely in the arms of their friendship. For this band, the most important part is each other. You’ve met the guys of LA’s friendly neighborhood emo band Good Terms a couple of months ago. Now, they’re back. They’ve recently released their newest single “Hamster Wheel”, a song about feeling lost, out of touch, and wanting something more. It’s an anthem for those who keep running in a circle in a desperate attempt to find a straight line. And behind it, is a wholesome story about friendship, and accountability.
Before Good Terms was a band, they were a group of best friends trying to find security in Los Angeles. Vocalist and guitarist Brian had just moved to the city of angels and was crashing at vocalist and guitarist Zach’s place while he was figuring out his next move. The two decided to sit down and try to work their conflicted and lost feelings through writing, a perfect outlet for creatives. A city isn’t a home until you’ve visited the places surrounding it, and discovered all the nooks and crannies that your neighborhood hides. A band isn’t a band until they get real with one another, and lay their emotions and struggles out on the page.
When you think “Hamster Wheel” you may think of your furry pet. In my personal case, I think of my childhood friend’s furry pet who was accidentally microwaved in a fit of fury and impulsivity, resulting in a tragic, messy, and unnecessary loss. Either the hamster doesn’t live long, or something drastic happens. Eventually, something’s got to give. And that’s exactly what Brian thought when he was crashing on Zach’s couch. “‘Hamster Wheel is about running in circles, man. I was fronting my own band at the time, and I thought I was doing everything I wanted to do”, begins Brian. “I had complete artistic freedom, I had a band with horns, and I was doing it all in LA. It was a dream, and it sucked.” With the hustle Brian was putting in, he felt no reward. Zach felt a similar feeling working a corporate job at the time that offered safety and security. However, Zach felt he was losing joy and passion, and when it all came down to it, no amount of security and safety was enough to fill the void. “I know that I personally made a lot of fear-based decisions for a few years”, says Zach. “I fully believe that if I had prioritized the things that brought me joy from day one, by now I would have that safety and security, except I would’ve gotten it on my own terms.” Zach continues to encapsulate the feelings of every creative millennial, “All of the security in the world isn’t worth anything when you feel empty inside. Not to mention, it’s also literally the least logical decision to make. If you want to bake cakes for a living but instead choose to sell real estate because it’s ‘smarter’ or ‘safer’, eventually squandering away your passion is going to catch up with you. It’s more important that you follow what’s driving and inspiring you to wake up every morning and to be so excited to work hard at achieving your dreams. There’s no singular path in life that is ‘smarter’ than another, it’s about making the right choice for you. So go bake those cakes!”
“All of the security in the world isn’t worth anything when you feel empty inside.”-Zach
Ever since they’ve hopped off their hamster wheel, the two have been extremely intentional with their work. With time, the band discovered that most of their work was becoming a full circle. “‘Hamster Wheel’ is sort of the sequel to our first single ‘Wither Away,’” says Zach. “‘Wither Away’ was written in the middle of a bad situation and about wanting to get out of it. ‘Hamster Wheel’ was the first song written after leaving that situation”. The song blends perfectly into their next single “Light At The End”, blending a solo vocal into a solo drum part, which Zach says is one of his favorite transitions.
The single begins with a guitar riff played on an Orange Micro Terror that Brian bought for $300.00. Without thinking about it, he came up with the riff and kept it in his back pocket for about 3–4 years. It wasn’t until he showed it to Zach and his bandmate Ivan one magical day, that the song kicked off and his riff moved from his back pocket and into a real song. Zach says his main inspiration for the song was Brian. “He is so insanely talented as both a vocalist and a guitarist,” says Zach. He admits that “Hamster Wheel “ was the first time he wasn’t the chef. “Up until we wrote [Hamster Wheel], everything we had written or recorded previously began from my brain.” There’s a special kind of humility that allows creatives to sit back and give control to their bandmates, no matter how talented they are. “I knew that I was going to have to take a back seat some of the time if we were going to successfully collaborate together as band members”, Zach admits. Brian’s aesthetic is just the first layer of the cake. When Brian showed the riff to Zach and Ivan, Zach admitted that it was exactly what he wanted to hear, “it was not something I would ever think to write. It felt so liberating to fully trust that the song was going to be as good as I knew it needed to be without having to control every aspect of it”. There’s a trust that comes with being a collaborative bandmate. It’s the frosting that holds all of the layers together. The band has declared bassist, vocalist, and producer Geo Bothelo as their game-changer, or the icing on the cake if you will. Members Zach and Geo go way back to their college days at Berklee College Of Music in Boston. “Geo & I went out on a little coffee date”, begins Zach. “I asked Geo if this band was something he’d want to do with me. I’ll never forget his response. He was like ‘Dude. Of course. But I only have one requirement.’ Overjoyed with his acceptance of my punk proposal, I was like ‘Absolutely! What is it?’ to which he responded, ‘I just need a bridge’”. And just like that, the band’s mission to find the perfect song to fit the “Geo Bridge” began. Aside from the humor, there’s a ton of sentiment that comes with the Geo bridge, “There’s a band from Boston called Transit who Geo and I saw a million times in college and has always been a big inspiration for us”, says Zach. “Transit had a really amazing guitarist and a second vocalist named Tim Landers, who tragically passed away a little while ago. Transit has a song called ‘For The World’ where Tim sings the entire bridge and it’s one of the best moments in their catalog.” Zach holds a lot of affection for Geo, stating that Geo reminds him a lot of Tim Landers, “Geo has a super unique and gritty singing voice that always reminded me of Tim’s voice, so the bridge was always sort of our unspoken inspiration for what we could do for his ‘Geo Bridge’”. These guys have a big heart, and it shows in their music. Don’t be swayed by their dynamic and upbeat music videos. With Good Terms, there’s always another layer of the cake. “We scheduled a vocal session for Geo on February 2nd, 2019”, begins Zach. “We all woke up the morning of the session to hear the very sad news of Tim Landers’ passing. It was all almost too f*@!#$ up and eerie to be real. I do feel a bit disrespectful talking about Tim’s passing in a way that puts a spotlight on our band, but it really made an impact on us that day. Right before Geo did his first take, we had a little moment of remembrance and all said ‘for Tim.’ Hopefully, this song can honor his memory.”
The brotherhood continues with their latest music video. Filmed around Halloween, the song revolves around their favorite things, “We wanted it to feel like a ‘day in the life’ type video”, begins Zach. “We all met up with Sam Laponis, our videographer in the morning. We got a bunch of food, played some N64, went through a car wash, broke the van, and then went on a hike and filmed every part of the day.” The video shows the boys shoved in the back of a band van, complete with all of the band necessities: Yoda, fast food, and zero seat belts. “We decided to focus on the lyric ‘I wish I realized this sooner’ and show the viewer what we meant by ‘this’ in that lyric,” says Zach. “It’s about the special friendships and connections that we all have with each other. We wanted to create a visual representation of what it would feel like if you were along for the ride with Good Terms for a day. Sam has this super sick piece of gear called a Ronin Axis Stabilizer that allowed him to make super-fast & fluid human-like moves with his camera. We wanted it to feel like the viewer is along for the ride with us the entire video and Sam absolutely nailed it!” The ride is packed with laughs, we’re having the time of our lives, everything goes great, until the middle of the video when their Yoda accessorized van breaks down in the middle of Highland Park. “We were on the way up to Moon Canyon where we filmed the last section of the video, and white smoke started pouring out of the hood”, recalls Zach. Luckily for them, Sam their videographer used to be a mechanic, a kind of luck that seems way too good to be true. Sam suggested they use the situation as a scene for the video, which ended up being a fun setting for the boys, “Imagine the four of us singing and dancing in front of the visibly smoking van on a heavily trafficked residential street in Highland Park with cars passing by every few seconds”, Zach laughs. “It made for some pretty hilarious shots”.
“It’s about the special friendships and connections that we all have with each other. We wanted to create a visual representation of what it would feel like if you were along for the ride with Good Terms for a day.”-Zach
A part of every great road trip is the food. Everyone knows that. Their individual favorites range from Raising Canes, In and Out, and fellow member Ivan’s personal favorite, Taco Bell. “I’m that Taco Bell b*@!#”, he says. “I have a case of Taco Bell sauce that I got online because it’s genuinely one of my favorite things. Sue me”. Despite their love of fast food, the boys want to make one thing clear about their favorites, “It’s 100%, not Chick-Fil-A as this video might suggest”, declares Zach. “Low key embarrassed as f&%! that a Chick-Fil-A bag full of garbage that was left in the van has such a prominent feature throughout this video. We don’t support that establishment whatsoever.” The vibe invites you to be apart of the brotherhood. Ivan, guitarist, vocalist, and video editor says, “I really want to take advantage of the opportunity to put faces and personalities behind the sound and the band. I feel like if I do a good job with each video, you’ll not only have something entertaining to look at while listening but you’ll also get to know us more as people and get a more tangible idea of who we are as a collective and the intense friendship that exists between us”. The band has always known how to have a good time, whether it’s safely on the ground, in a van without seat belts, or even the roof. Brian takes a moment to be completely candid, “Good Terms does not endorse filming on rooftops without the proper safety equipment! The hair on the back of my neck definitely raised up a few times”. There is no recipe or step by step guide for success. It’s a process of trial with a ton of error. Good Terms wants to remind you with “Hamster Wheel” that if you feel stuck, you’re not alone. Brian states that this song is for, “anyone who unquestioningly followed a path and found dissatisfaction at the end. It doesn’t even have to be the suit-and-tie-job that the details of the song came from. It’s always important to think about where you’re going vs. where you want to be. It’s more than a certain call to action, this is just a celebration of the ups and downs of life.”
“It’s always important to think about where you’re going vs. where you want to be.”-Brian
Just like that, we’re back to the beginning, reflecting and trying to cherish the moment we are in. “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them”.
Originally published at https://getsomemag.com on December 9, 2020
